Ten years ago this month, I was carrying around a worn-out index card. At the time, it was one of the most important things I owned.
I was facing a decision that felt enormous. I was considering leaving my home, my house, walking away from a job I had held for sixteen years, and moving away to a new city for a new start.
Looking back, it sounds simple. At the time, it felt like standing at the edge of a cliff. I prayed constantly. I fasted. I asked God for direction. More accurately, I asked Him for certainty. I wanted to know whether I was making the right decision. I wanted guarantees. I wanted to know how everything would work out before I took the first step.
Instead, one day at work, I felt compelled to write down what I believed God was whispering in my heart. I wrote it on an index card and carried it in my pocket for the next year. The card is still with me today. The paper is torn. The folds are worn. The ink has faded in places. Yet one line remains as clear now as it was then: “Stop trying to force My hand.”
At the time, I thought the message was about moving. Ten years later, I realize it was about trust. The truth is, I wasn’t trying to decide whether to move. I was trying to solve the next ten years of my life. I wanted to know if the relationship would work. I wanted to know if the sacrifices would be worth it. I wanted to know if I would be happy. I wanted to know if I would succeed. I wanted answers to questions that only time could answer.
What I didn’t understand then was that God wasn’t asking me to understand the future. He was asking me to trust Him with it. The funny thing about life is that when we look backward, the path seems obvious.
I can now see everything that move eventually led to. The friendships. The experiences. The lessons. The books. The opportunities. The heartbreaks. The successes. The failures. The people who entered my life. The people who left it. The dogs that became family. The moments I never could have planned.
If someone had shown me the next ten years before I moved, I probably wouldn’t have believed them. Some of it would have excited me. Some of it would have terrified me. Either way, it wasn’t information I needed. I only needed enough faith to take the next step.
Today I find myself facing a different set of uncertainties. A job that may or may not be permanent. A surgery that may or may not happen. Publishing opportunities that may or may not develop. Questions that may or may not have the answers I want. Yet somehow, they don’t bother me the way they once would have. Not because I have become wiser. Not because I have become fearless. But because I finally understand something that old index card was trying to teach me.
Yesterday prepared me for today. Today’s lessons will prepare me for tomorrow. My responsibility is not to control tomorrow before it arrives. My responsibility is to live today well. That doesn’t mean I stop planning. It doesn’t mean I stop working. It doesn’t mean I stop pursuing opportunities. It simply means I stop demanding answers that only time can provide.
The future is a terrible place to live. Most of the fears we carry never happen. Most of the opportunities we receive were impossible to predict. Most of life unfolds one day at a time, whether we worry about it or not.
Ten years later, the index card is falling apart. The lesson isn’t. Stop trying to force His hand. Trust Him with tomorrow. And don’t forget to live today.
If this resonated with you, please check out my book “Finding Your Transformative Life” for a deeper perspective on building a better , stronger you.
Troy P Zehnder 